


Allegiance

by 18lzytwner



Series: ThunderCats Third Series [5]
Category: Thundercats (1985)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2019-07-04 23:27:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 19,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15851595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/18lzytwner/pseuds/18lzytwner
Summary: The ThunderCats are out to make new allies when something goes terribly awry. Is it the Mutants again or has something else bubbled to the surface? Can they stop what is coming?





	1. Chapter 1

Summer was finally upon New Thundera and everyone welcomed the warmth. The winter had been harsh, even after Chilla had been stopped, and spring had proven to be wet and rainy. Chilla, Alluro, and Chilla's family had long been transported off of New Thundera and Mandora had promised to keep the ThunderCats in the loop as far as how things were going between Plundarr and her now separated moons.

Plundarr had resisted as was expected but when the new members of the High Council had seen the plans that the old High Council had begun to move into motion, they knew they didn't have much of a choice. The Space Council of Planets quickly went about getting each moon of Plundarr into shape to not only govern themselves but to also have a decent infrastructure. Still some called the loss of the Mutant's tax base to not be enough, citing that the loss could be easily recouped by having their own workers do the work that they had originally forced the Lunataks to do. Still the Council believed that, because most of the workers that would be needed to fill jobs that had been forced upon the Lunataks, were semi-skilled positions, the Mutants would spend more money on training and benefits than they realized. Benefits had been another item that they had forced the Mutant High Council to institute. Most workers without a higher education were forced into jobs that did not have benefits such as healthcare and sick leave. When a Mutant couldn't come into work because they were sick, they were simply fired and replaced, leaving many Mutant families in poverty and with no way to climb out of it. No longer would Mutant society be divided by extreme wealth and extreme poverty. A new middle class would emerge and life for everyone would get better.

Panthro figured that it was all a wasted effort because the moment that the Space Council and the Evil Chasers left the planet and her moons, things would eventually go back to the way they were on Plundarr, minus having the Lunataks to deal with. Lion-O wasn't so sure but only time would tell. In the meantime, New Thundera went back to business as usual, though they would stay on high alert just in case Panthro was right. For now, they would enjoy the calm and the nice weather.

There was a knock on Lion-O's office door and he quickly bade the person who was out in the hallway to enter. He was eyeball deep in paperwork and wishing he could be playing outside with his children instead.

"You wanted to see me sir?" Pali asked as he entered Lion-O's office.

"Ah yes. Please have a seat," the lion smiled. Pali nodded and quickly sat down in a chair that sat in front of the King's magnificent desk.

"I wanted to know how things are going for you since you returned from visiting your folks," Lion-O said. The Mutant turned Evil Chaser had taken a break as Mandora had ordered him to and had returned eager to help out in any way that he could. Tygra had helped get him an office inside the Lair and Snarf had made sure one of the guest rooms had been turned into his room. Lion-O, Cheetara, and Mandora had announced his presence and what he would be doing on New Thundera to the Thunderian people when the spring had come around. At first, people were unsure what to make of it but when they saw what a sweetheart the young reptile was, they were soon at ease with him.

"They were thrilled to see me after I had only been gone a few months. My time undercover forced me away for a long time. This second vacation was very kind of you and the Queen," Pali smiled.

"Think nothing of it. It's been quiet and with your folks on Mars, only an eight hour flight away, we knew we could reach you if we needed to. I wanted to ask you if you thought they would be interested in moving to New Thundera. That way they could see you whenever they wanted. I know they are getting older and you want to be closer to them," Lion-O told him.

"That is a most gracious offer sir. I could certainly ask them. Does Lord Tygra know about their medical needs?" Pali asked.

"We haven't had much contact with the humans of their planet but Tygra has been talking to the doctors over there learning as much as he can and then teaching Pumyra and the rest of the staff here at the Lair. He intends to send the knowledge over to our main hospital here in the capital as well. I have been working on getting some form of treaty between New Thundera, Third Earth, and Mars and I think we have something that would work for all of us," the King explained.

"You have been doing all of this?" The young reptile was very surprised.

"Well I should have been better about it once New Thundera was fully established but we have continually run into troubles with our enemies to do so. It's a good time to take the opportunity to reach out and offer assistance to our surrounding neighbors. Besides, we're intrigued how they took a planet once thought to be inhospitable and turned it into something hospitable. Our charts told us to head to Third Earth because they thought Mars was not actually livable," Lion-O marveled.

"Oh that is a little above my scientific understanding but I agree that we could all learn from each other and aide each other if need be," Pali nodded.

"Excellent. Now I…" the lion never got the chance to finish as an announcement went over the loudspeaker at the Lair.

"Red Alert! Man your battle stations! Red Alert!" The two looked at each other and bolted out of the King's office and toward the Control Room.


	2. Chapter 2

"What's going on?" Lion-O asked as he and Pali burst into the Control Room.

"Unidentified vessel was picked up entering our air space. I have tried reaching it in English and in Thunderian but no luck," Punthar told them and he magnified the image of the ship.

"Weapons are hot and on target," Lea spoke up.

"May I? Pali asked as he stepped up to the puma at the controls.

"By all means," Punthar nodded. Pali smiled and then quickly spoke into the radio though the language he spoke was not familiar to the ThunderCats. The ship then slowed on its entry and hovered in its location.

"Mars Rover six-delta-eight is awaiting your landing clearance Lord Lion-O. They apologize for not saying they were coming. Something urgent on Mars has brought them here," the reptile explained.

"By all means let them land. Cancel the Red Alert. Stand down from battle stations. I want a complement of ThunderGuard down here on the double," Lion-O gave his orders to the room and quickly everyone bustled about.

"What language was that?" Punthar asked.

"It is the language of my mother's people. When they left Earth for Mars centuries ago, they kept their language and of course speak English. The fact that they only wished to speak the language of the ancestors means something is happening and they do not want it over the radio for the galaxy to hear," Pali frowned not entirely answering the puma's question.

"Language of the ancestors?" Punthar was a little confused.

"Choctaw, pardon me," Pali nodded before heading out into the corridor and Lion-O was on his heels.

"Choctaw?" Lea gave the puma a look.

"A language of the Native Americans as they were called when Earth was First Earth. I spent some time learning all I could about Third Earth back when we were at the Tower of Omens," Lynx-O spoke up.

"Ah I see. I'll radio Panthro and make sure if their ship needs work, it gets it," Lea said.

"Good call. Pali's tone makes me wonder how bad things are," Lynx-O had a bad feeling in his gut.

Outside, Pali, Lion-O, and the complement of ThunderGuard met the ship as it landed. Quickly three men disembarked. They were tan though they wore full dress uniforms and Pali quickly introduced them.

"General Eagle, General Blackfoot, and President Kachi of the Mars Choctaw Nation, it is my pleasure to introduce King Lion-O of New Thundera and Third Earth," Pali smiled. The men quickly extended their hands and Lion-O greeted them all.

"Gentlemen, I am sorry for the way we treated your ship. We've had too many close calls in the recent past with our enemies," the lion explained.

"We understand and we apologize for not speaking in a tongue which you could understand. We have come on a top secret mission as ambassadors of not only the Mars Choctaw Nation but everyone who resides on Mars. President Mwende sent use because he knew that our language would not be broken by other planets," Kachi spoke up.

"Then we must go inside and hold a meeting. I shall get the other ThunderCats and Queen Cheetara to hear what you have to say," Lion-O said.

"Excellent, thank you," Kachi smiled slightly before turning to Pali and saying,

"You do your people proud son of Opa. Thank you for helping us." Pali practically beamed as they headed inside the Lair.

Once the ThunderCats had all assembled in the conference room and the introductions were made, Kachi pulled out a disk and Panthro helped insert it in to the equipment necessary to play it. The President seemed worried but also like a strong warrior and Lion-O wondered how bad things could be on Mars.

"Gentlemen and Ladies, Mars is dying," Kachi said.


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you mean President Kachi?" Pali looked at him in horror. Those around the table were surprised that he was so forward with the man who led his mother's people but they soon found out why.

"Tremors have begun to occur across the planet. Some have formed into full quakes, ripping open the land, and killing those who could not get to safety. The biosphere domes cannot take much more of the stress and will in fact fail if we cannot stop the tremors. I know it is not easy to hear son. It was hard for all of us to swallow as well. I have spoken with the other Presidents of the other Native Nations and we have agreed that our best option is to flee the planet. We have offered our assistance to the other nations as well. President Mwende wishes he could have made the trip but he fears that the sight of him leaving the planet may have made a panic arise. He is coordinating with the other nations of the planet and trying to see if we could do large scale evacuations," Kachi paused and then turned his attention to the ThunderCats.

"We have the ability to leave the planet but we do not have enough supplies to last for a long journey to another planet. Within our reach however are New Thundera and Third Earth. I know it is a lot to ask of you and your people King Lion-O but we would not ask if we had a solution," he explained.

"We have dealt with this same issue back when Thundera was destroyed. We will help in any way that we can. First, I think it wise that myself and Queen Cheetara travel to meet with the Presidents of your nations and from there we can devise a strategy to not over crowd or over burden either New Thundera or Third Earth. If we could bring your food stores from Mars then we could delay the inevitable food shortages, allowing for us to plant more crops and hopefully harvest before winter comes. Tygra, we would need you to head up getting temporary shelters set up and then we could move toward getting permanent housing figured out," Lion-O told the group.

"I think we need to see if the planet is able to be stabilized or if it is a total loss before we get too far ahead of ourselves," Panthro spoke up.

"While I agree, I think we need to evacuate first. If any of those biospheres burst, millions will die. I cannot condemn my fellow Martians to death," Kachi explained.

"No argument. The safety of the citizens must come first. I merely mean that if we can solve your problems in short order, then we don't have to have evacuated and put the stress on people of doing so," Panthro told him.

"Yes. President Mwende had his people run the numbers. The entire planet will not go unscathed. There will be those who would not survive the trip and it is something that no one wants to hear, though I fear we may not have a choice," the Choctaw Indian let out a sigh as if he knew someone personally that would not make it.

"Mother and Father…" Pali swallowed hard.

"While I worry about them both, Opa is a strong woman, Pali. I worry more about my brother. His heart may not take the strain of such news," Kachi gripped the young reptile's shoulder.

"We haven't a moment to spare. Panthro, prepare the new Feliner. We'll take her on her first test run. Ben-Gali, get Doctors Summa and Centi. They will be more knowledgeable in planet behavior than we can be," Lion-O said. Panthro and Ben-Gali stood and nodded before heading out of the door.

"I'll get on the horn to the Berbils and see if they can start work on Third Earth," Tygra stood up and headed for the door.

"Swear them to secrecy and use the secure line in my office," Lion-O told him. The tiger nodded and went out of the door.

"Pumyra, prep the Med Bay and talk to the hospital. We need to continue training more personnel to treat anyone who needs it once the evacuations begin," the king instructed.

"On it," she was out the door in a hurry. If everyone could give Lea and I the room," Lion-O said. Quickly the Queen kissed him on the cheek and led the visiting Martians along with Pali down to the hangar.

"What is it Lion-O?" Lea asked.

"It is a lot to ask of you but while Cheetara and I are away, you are in charge. Should anything happen to us on this trip, you will be crowned Queen and be Leader of the ThunderCats. I'm not expecting anything but just in case," he told her.

"Nothing will happen," his half-sister tried to reassure him.

"The Sword will know what to do should something happen. It will find its way back to you. Snarf will take care of the children," he pulled her in for a hug.

"We best be on our way," Lion-O said after letting her go. She nodded and watched him head out of the door.


	4. Chapter 4

The trip to Mars was a smooth one and the new Feliner was working just as well as the old one. Panthro was proud of his baby and how she handled the trip. Landing her in the designated area given by flight control tower, the group quickly disembarked.

"Greetings friends of Mars. I am President Mwende of the Unified Nations of Mars. While I am glad you could come so quickly, I wish it had been for another reason," the dark skinned human extended his hand and shook Lion-O's. He was tall and thin with closely cropped gray hair.

"We are happy to help in any way that we can. I am King Lion-O of New Thundera and Third Earth. This is my wife, Queen Cheetara, along with Lord Panthro, Lord Ben-Gali, and two of our top scientists, Doctors Summa and Centi. Where should we start?" The lion asked.

"I am sure President Kachi already explained our situation. Perhaps we should head for our briefing room where we can give you more details about the planet and our thoughts on fixing it. Although I must admit, fixing it may not be an option. Our scientists are at the end of their ropes," Mwende explained as the group moved inside the closest building. It was rectangular and appeared to be made of concrete. While not the most attractive building they had seen on their ride in, most guessed it was for security purposes.

"Well perhaps we can be of assistance. Regrettably, we've had experience with planet disruptions such as these," Doctor Summa spoke up. He was an elderly lynx who had survived the destruction of Thundera and he had been studying the planet before it began its death throes.

"So I have been told. It may be our saving grace despite your people having been through such a tragedy," Mwende frowned, knowing that this had to bring back memories for some of the group there. They entered the building and moved down the hall toward a large conference room where shouting could be heard. Mwende shook his head as they entered the room. A man at the door in a military uniform shouted "Ten hut!" and the room quickly fell silent.

"Gentlemen and Ladies, may I introduce King Lion-O and his party from nearby New Thundera. They have brought some scientists with them and hopefully we can work out some sort of agreement for evacuations," Mwende announced. The room remained silent for a few moments and Lion-O took the chance to speak up.

"Doctors Summa and Centi will be more than willing to assist in figuring out the planet's issues. Meanwhile, I think it best we figure out how we can evacuate and do it in an orderly fashion. The less stress that people have to go through the better."

"Agreed. Thank you for coming King Lion-O. I am President Koothrapali from Little India. Our scientists have been working with the other scientists from every country and we have no answer. As far as they can figure, our planet is dying, which of course, is not what anyone wants to hear," the man smiled and greeted them. His skin was lighter than Mwende's but darker than Kachi's. He was balding and wore glasses.

"Where would you like us to get started?" Doctor Summa spoke up.

"The scientists are through the doorway. They wanted to meet you here and then take you to the lab for a more thorough approach," Koothrapali explained.

"Excellent. Ben-Gali, please go with them," Lion-O ordered. Ben-Gali nodded and followed the two scientists to the room where the others were gathered.

"I believe a full round of introductions are in order," Mwende spoke up before he quickly went around the room introducing each President of each Nation that resided on Mars. There were almost a hundred people in the room and Lion-O wondered if he could remember them all.

"So we have about three billion people on Mars. How do you propose we get them off safely without causing mass panic?" President Matsuyama of Little Japan asked.

"Thundera, before its destruction, held approximately four billion. In the ensuing panic from the planet's violent death, we lost a minimum, one-half. Now we have not recouped that amount, but we get ships in that have been wandering space at least once every two weeks. New Thundera's current population nears five hundred million. Third Earth has roughly the same number though it is also populated by others such as the Balkans, Wollos, Warrior Maidens, and RoBear Berbils, just to name a few. I have my people running the numbers but we believe that we could split your number down the middle. Now, this is of course, only if we can get your food stores off this planet as well. There is no infrastructure on either Third Earth or New Thundera to prepare for such an influx of people," Lion-O told them.

"That would be best case scenario. Right now, my people have calculated that we could lose up to two million people in the evacuations. Of course that number will only go up should we not start evacuating biospheres soon," Mwende spoke up.

"Then we need an evacuation plan first," Cheetara said. She had been mulling over all they had discussed and was beginning to wonder if the numbers that Mwende had calculated were a bit generous. They were, of course, assuming every ship functioned properly and that there was no panic during the evacuations. The number of deaths would climb easily into the double-digit millions, maybe triple digits if ships could not get clear of the planet before she destroyed herself.

"We need…" Panthro had joined in the conversation but didn't finish his sentence as the ground beneath him rocked violently.


	5. Chapter 5

"Is everyone all right?" Mwende asked as the tremor passed. Everyone looked around and everything seemed to be holding together. Panthro was about to continue when an alarm sounded.

"What's that?" Lion-O asked. One of the generals who was sitting next to President Mwende checked the tablet in front of him.

"We have a breach in the outer layer of the Little China's biosphere. Crews are on the way to repair it," he explained.

"I must go!" The President of Little China, Mr. Chang, bolted up.

"Let the crews work, sir. We'll keep you up to date," Mwende pleaded with the man.

"My family is there!" Chang argued.

"So are millions of your own people! The situation is under control. Alerts have been issued and everyone is hunkering down," the President urged.

"I think we all need to stay focused on the task at hand. These repairs won't last forever. We need to start coordinating evacuations and moving food stores," Lion-O spoke up.

"He is right. Otherwise it won't matter what we do, millions of people will die," President Koothrapali backed the lion up.

"Yes, let us stay focus. Lord Panthro, you were saying?" President Mwende asked.

"We need a total count of fully operational transport vehicles and how many people they can carry and how much food stores can be transported. We have to assume that some groups will have to remain in space while both New Thundera and Third Earth are prepped for the influx of population. We have people on New Thundera working on temporary housing but I think that if we can get your construction crews on both planets then the process will be greatly sped up," the panther explained.

"What about the people stuck in the more fragile biospheres? We can't leave them where they are, waiting for the next tremor to occur or worse the next actual quake," President Uzun of the United Arab States wanted to know.

"Is there any way to begin to move people to other, sturdier, biospheres?" Cheetara asked.

"We have begun evacuations but it puts extra stress on the biospheres. They are designed for a certain number of people with a safety factor accounted for. When one country gets larger and is in need of an add-on, we begin construction and then move people around so that things aren't overcrowded. We haven't had to build an add-on in about fifty years. We have an aging population so the numbers of those born equal about those that pass away," Mwende explained.

"Perhaps it is best then to start evacuating those biospheres to New Thundera and Third Earth first. Putting more stress on the population won't end well," Lion-O noted. Before anyone could say anything else, Ben-Gali burst into the room. Everyone turned to him and almost looked sheepish for a moment. Then he jerked his head and Lion-O pardoned himself, heading over to the tiger.

"What's up?" The lion asked.

"Doctors Summa and Centi don't think this is a natural occurrence," Ben-Gali explained.

"What do you mean?" Lion-O gave him a confused look.

"Someone is doing this," the tiger clarified.


	6. Chapter 6

"We need some confirmation before we mention this to anyone in this room," Lion-O said.

"Oh I agree but it's way too much of a coincidence considering what I have found," Ben-Gali told him. Lion-O nodded and turned to Cheetara, who used her speed and was with the two in a moment.

"Please go with Ben and see what they scientists have found. Panthro and I will hold the fort as it were," Lion-O said.

"You've got it," she nodded and gave him a smile. With that, she and Ben-Gali left the room and the lion returned to Panthro who was discussing options.

"Is everything ok?" President Mwende asked upon his return to the front of the room.

"Yes of course. Just some business that we have to attend to back home. Nothing that affects what we're talking about," he lied but he certainly didn't want to bring Ben-Gali's theory up just yet.

"You let your woman handle the business of state?" One of the leaders from one of the Arab States shook his head.

"Cheetara is not only my wife. She is Queen to our people, Mother to our children, and holds high standings as a ThunderCat. She is respected and adored and one of the most capable people I know. Yes, she handles business of state and would gladly put her life on the line to protect yours," Lion-O was almost growling at the end.

"I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself next time Usef for they truly show how ignorant you are," Mwende spoke up. Usef looked like he was about to object but when no one seemed to be backing his remark; he just narrowed his eyes at Mwende.

Meanwhile, Doctors Summa and Centi were showing Cheetara what they had been talking to Ben-Gali about. Some of their new colleagues were with them, all nervous for the implications that it held.

"I see your point. The good scientists here have proven that the planet shouldn't be doing what it is doing. But why put the whole planet in jeopardy of having a major catastrophe?" The cheetah asked.

"Perhaps they did not fully understand the implications of what they were doing," a Doctor by the name of Sven, spoke up.

"That could be a possibility but I fear they did know," another Doctor by the name of Ali, shook his head.

"Please enlighten us," Cheetara told him.

"Well look at the biospheres that are damaged in some shape or fashion, China, Korea, and Japan. They are all Asian communities. Now when we started making the biospheres we looked for fault lines to avoid such issues. The fault lines beneath these territories should not have had major earthquakes, yet when we measure them on a scale that is very similar to the Richter scale from Earth, you can see why the higher numbers would be so alarming," Ali explained, showing her a sheet of how their scale broke down.

"How does their scale compare to ours?" The Queen wanted to know, looking at the readings that put the first of the quakes in between a seven and an eight. A typical quake of magnitude seven should have occurred only every fifty years but as the scale slid down to eight it was only supposed to occur every hundred years. Here they started in between a seven and an eight and the succession of quakes did lessen but barely. The last tremor that broke the Chinese biosphere was still hitting just above a six and a half.

"We're about the same," Centi explained.

"Ok that puts it in perspective," Cheetara swallowed.

"The tremors should have dropped to almost a third of the magnitude and yet they did not so you can understand why our first concern was that the planet may be in its death throes," Sven spoke up again.

"It sounds like a solid assumption to me. It was only until you received more data that someone realized there was a pattern forming. So is it possible to make an earthquake machine?" The cheetah asked.

"Oh it's possible," Ali said.


	7. Chapter 7

The meeting of the council had ended and now Mwende joined Lion-O and Panthro as they headed to the lab. Lion-O had partially filled them in as to what Ben-Gali had discovered and Mwende found it hard to believe. The lion said that at first the different clans of Thundera hated each other but eventually they realized that only together could they back a better world. That wasn't to say that there still weren't crackpots out there but since the unification of Thundera many generations ago, much of the infighting had ceased.

"So what have you got Ben-Gali?" Lion-O asked as they entered the lab.

"Regrettably a theory that holds water," the white tiger shook his head.

"We have begun evacuations and construction crews are on their way to New Thundera and Third Earth," Mwende explained.

"Good because we think whoever is doing this is smart enough to cause the earthquakes but stupid enough to not realize what they are doing to the entire planet. If we cannot stop them, the planet will be doomed," Cheetara spoke up.

"Good Lord," Mwende shook his head, still trying to absorb what he'd been told.

"We believe that someone created an earthquake machine and is using it to target the Asian biospheres," Doctor Ali said.

"Why?" The President asked.

"They are the biospheres most affected by the quakes and the strength of the quakes is spiking in their vicinity," Doctor Sven spoke up.

"The first question would be who hates the Asian communities so much?" Panthro wanted to know.

"Legitimately, the Asian communities are the most technologically advanced. Despite this, their human rights record is not so good. Korea and Japan treat their people well but China lacks very much in that department. It is an old hold over from their regime on Earth before it was evacuated. We managed to stop their smog output and institute better human rights policies but to be honest, some things are just ingrained. I understand the struggle as Africa spent most of its troubled history infighting and treating its citizens poorly. Most of that disappeared when we moved to Mars, mostly due to the fact that everyone shared what they had with the African nations since we were creating a new world. The years of third world countries are long behind us," Mwende explained.

"So they could be targets of their own people," Lion-O said.

"While it is possible, I doubt it. The Chinese might not get along with each other but they would never do anything to jeopardize the entire nation as they view theirs as the best. My guess is that either someone from another Asian biosphere is doing this or it is the Russians," the President told them.

"The Russians?" Ali raised an eyebrow.

"The military deal that Russia and China had fell through when some Russians attempted to kill President Chang. Needless to say, it was an idiotic move. You see the reason that we call it "Little China" is that the population and area it is made up of, is smaller than the original China on Earth. They are not weak but because of their technology, they are sought after as an ally. Russia and China had been doing business for years but some Russians were tired of being held to the Chinese high prices for the technology they cannot make on their own. Japan refuses to negotiate with Russia, though why that is, I'm not entirely sure," the dark-skinned man admitted.

"Well would the Russians have access to the technology to make an earthquake machine?" Panthro wanted to know.

"They aren't that hard to make believe it or not," Sven said.

"I'll take that as a yes," Ben-Gali shook his head.

"Doctors give me possible locations for placement of this machine. I will send security forces to quietly investigate. Have you spoken about this with any of your other colleagues?" Mwende asked.

"We have not. I know that we would not create such a device," Sven told him.

"I haven't either. I know that ideologically we don't get along with China but I doubt that we would try something like this. Besides I believe we would try a more direct approach and starve them of fuel," Ali admitted.

"Keep this between us then. Meantime, I can imagine that you'll want to make a call home King Lion-O," Mwende said.

"Yes I would," the lion nodded.


	8. Chapter 8

"The construction crews should be landing on Third Earth by dinner and New Thundera by lunch tomorrow. What has RoBear had to say?" Lion-O asked Tygra during their video call. The lion was in Mwende's private office using a secure line. The President of the Unified Nations of Mars had sent the security forces he'd discussed earlier to check out the locations that the scientists had come up with. It would take a few hours to get to each one so there was no word yet.

"The Berbils are willing to help and RoBear is sending some of his people to New Thundera to assist our crews. We're not going for anything crazy but for temporary purposes huts with facilities will have to do. It's a big undertaking but I think if we hope to have anything permanent by winter we'll have to split teams in order to get somewhere," the tiger explained.

"How long do we think this will take?" Lion-O was beginning to wonder if they had time to get everything in. They were in summer now but by the end of fall, that only gave them about five months to get housing together. It was a very short window for so many people.

"Well it's going to go a lot longer than the five months I figure we have. The temporary housing will allow people to move off of the ships that are coming in but right now I'm counting on people remaining in some of the ships, simply because we do not have the time nor the manpower to do what needs to be done," Tygra heaved a sigh.

"I figured as much. Between the Thundarian crews and the Berbils, how many can we give toward the effort?" The King asked.

"About a million people per planet. It's not bad but when you're building for three billion it's like a drop in the bucket," the tiger shook his head.

"Well we have about one and a half million from Mars coming to each planet. That should give us a boost but I see what you mean," Lion-O was sure that they would be able to do a lot but he could see how the numbers just wouldn't mesh. Even in working three shifts, around the clock, the housing needed would still be larger than the manpower could generate.

"We're asking people who wouldn't necessarily have tradesman kind of skills if they want to help. The workers will need to be fed, housed, and assisted with tasks that could be done by people without the technical knowledge of engineers, architects, and tradesmen. We've got a lot of people trying to help too so that's a good sign," Tygra tried to bolster his leader's confidence.

"The good peoples of New Thundera and Third Earth once again to the rescue. All right well we'll keep you in the loop. Thanks for all your hard work," the lion smiled.

"We'll keep you in the loop as well. Stay safe Lion-O. Pass my best to the others," Tygra smiled back.

"Will do," and with that the phone call ended. The King of New Thundera headed out of the room and was met by Mwende at the door.

"Things moving along?" He asked.

"They are. Though I worry about the timeline if we can't stop this earthquake machine," Lion-O said honestly.

"So do I but in times like these it is good to have new friends," the President gave him a slight smile. Lion-O opened his mouth to say something when the ground beneath their feet began to move.


	9. Chapter 9

"Another tremor like that one and we'll all be in serious trouble," Doctor Centi told them as the numbers came in off the monitoring stations that had been setup around the planet.

"How bad is it?" Lion-O asked.

"Close to a three on the scale. Not entirely bad but it usually signals a bigger one is on the way," Sven explained.

"What are the other scientists working on?" Mwende wanted to know.

"Evacuation protocols. We've got to be able to get people and food off this rock should the worst be inevitable," Ali told him.

"Good. The security teams are at least an hour out to their locations. How will we know if the planet is beyond saving?" The President asked.

"When the tremors themselves are large enough to be earthquakes themselves, then it will be too later. We're working on a progression algorithm to see if we can predict it," Summa spoke up.

"Someone clarify things for me because it doesn't seem like we have enough time to get everyone off the planet," Cheetara said. With every aftershock, she worried that the big one could be here faster than they anticipated. Worse still was that if there was no earthquake machine and the planet was in fact in its death throes, a lot of people were going to die.

"The ground may be moving beneath our feet but those are just aftershocks that travel along the planets tectonic plates, diffusing the enormous amount of energy that one earthquake releases. The ground beneath us is always moving, we just don't feel it because the movements are usually so small that we don't have instruments that could measure it. When two plates collide, they cause an earthquake. Sometimes it's a gentle collide so you're looking at a one or a two on the scale. They can be happening and people wouldn't even notice. A slightly greater collision causes a three or a four. These can definitely be felt but their aftershocks are hardly ever felt and the damage to property is minimal if any. It's when you get to a five and above that things get fairly ugly. Now before recent events the largest quake that was recorded here on Mars was a seven. Luckily it occurred out in the desert plains of the planet and though some biospheres felt the aftershocks, the damage was not significant. Had there been structures located near the epicenter, they would have most likely been destroyed. On Earth the worst recorded earthquake was a nine point five, occurring the in the year nineteen-sixty. This earthquake lasted nearly ten minutes and the resulting tsunami destroyed communities thousands of miles away. Luckily, we have no massive bodies of water so tsunamis are something that could never occur here," Sven explained.

"So basically, even though the ground has been shaking here, the earthquakes are not nearly as bad as they seem," Cheetara nodded thoughtfully.

"Correct. The biospheres are basically meant to withstand a seven, something that should have never occurred where they were located which is why we began to wonder what was going on. It is not to say that it would never happen but the simple fact that the aftershocks barely declined in strength and that multiple large quakes occurred at the same time means that something extraordinary is occurring," Ali spoke up.

"I would concur. That quake you mentioned on Earth, those are fairly rare are they not?" Centi asked.

"There was never another like it before Earth was abandoned. I would hazard a guess that it hasn't happened since otherwise your Third Earth would have felt it. We evacuated Earth all those hundreds of years ago because the planet started to go through its second Ice Age. The further north you went the less hospitable it became. Soon everyone was cramming as far south as they could, overwhelming underdeveloped nations and causing food scarcities. Oceans began to rise more rapidly than the usual progression and soon even the southern hemispheres were not safe. We evacuated as many as we could and settled on the next hospitable planet. Now obviously the planet has gone through another age which allowed Third Earth to become hospitable again," Sven explained.

"So Mumm-Ra must have been a frozen popsicle then for quite some time," Ben-Gali chuckled. Lion-O couldn't help but laugh as well. The picture of the miserable mummy frozen like a popsicle was certainly entertaining.

"Mumm-Ra?" Mwende asked.

"An old enemy of ours that used to inhabit Third Earth. We'll tell you all about him once we have everyone safe," Panthro smiled.

"Sounds like something I would want to hear," the President smiled back. Just then the phone rang in the room and Mwende quickly answered it. It wasn't a long phone call and when he hung up he told them to follow him. The group quickly did as they were told and ended up back in the secure office of the President. He pulled up the video screen and the group got their first look at what a security team had found near Little China.

"So someone did make one," Sven shook his head.

"The crew operating it is down sir. We await your further instruction," the team leader spoke over the sound system in the room.

"Secure the area. If we try to remove it and we do it wrong, we could be in trouble. I'm sending a team of specialists to you," Mwende told them.

"Yes sir," the man nodded and the President turned to Sven and Ali.

"You two head out to meet them. Doctors Centi and Summa will keep working from here in an effort to see if this solves our problem."

"Yes, Mr. President," they nodded and quickly headed back to the lab to grab their things.


	10. Chapter 10

Back on New Thundera, Tygra looked at the plans that had been drawn up all those years ago whilst they were making temporary homes on New Thundera. They were good plans but the tiger wondered if they could be finished in time. Time. They didn't have much of it and despite all of the volunteers and trained personnel; things were going to be tough.

"Lord Tygra, we have a call from Mars. It's Pali. He says he needs your help," Punthar told him over the phone.

"Patch the call through," Tygra said. In a few moments the reptile was on the screen.

"I would ask what is going on but that's a pretty loaded question," the tiger gave him a half smile.

"My mother is not doing well. I worry that she will not survive the evacuation," he said.

"Can you move up her timetable? I know that your people aren't scheduled for evacuation for a little while but perhaps a less strenuous trip would be more beneficial," Tygra wanted to know.

"I have asked President Kachi. He is trying to see what the timetable is for people who need medical attention. The doctors are doing what they can but…" Pali trailed off.

"Stay strong my friend. Alert Lion-O. He may be able to help. Also, send over your mother's medical files. I'll prep for her arrival," Tygra told him.

"Thanks my friend. I…" again the reptile couldn't find the words.

"I know. We'll do everything we can," the tiger gave him a slight smile. With that the call ended and Tygra got up, moving for the exit of his office. He headed down to the Med Bay and told Pumyra the news.

"Oh that doesn't sound good," the puma shook her head. The two of them heard an alert that there was a file incoming via Pali's personal computer. They had set up a special connection for him when he would go to Mars to visit his family.

"I hate to admit it but he's right. His mother won't take the stress of being mass evacuated," Pumyra said as she scanned the file.

"I told him to talk to Lion-O. Hopefully they can do something on their end. I'm afraid that we can't do anything until she gets here," Tygra heaved a sigh. Pumyra nodded, hoping that things were going well on the Red Planet.

"How goes it Doctors?" Mwende asked from the video feed.

"Detaching it shouldn't be a problem because it seems that our saboteurs didn't actually attach anything to the plates. They put what I would call a large tuning fork in a hole they had created using the latest in laser digging equipment," Sven explained.

"Will the hole create a problem for us?" Mwende wanted to know.

"Considering how deep it is and the fact that it is near the planet's core, I would say yes," Ali told him.

"What kind of problem?" Lion-O spoke up.

"Essentially they have created a baby volcano. Lava from the planet's core could travel up this smooth shaft to release pressure from below, especially now since they've created new faults where there were none before. Worse still, another good sized earthquake and the hole could widen and cause things, including people, to fall in," Sven shook his head.

"Great Jaga's Ghost," Panthro murmured. Before the President could comment another tremor hit the building. Sven's picture disappeared from the screen and the second leader of one of the other security groups appeared.

"We've stopped a second machine and the other crews have reported finding nothing at the other sites given to us. The men operating the machine are down. What should we do?" He asked.

"Send your coordinates to the first group. We need to get both of these things shut down as quickly as possible," Mwende told him.

"Yes, sir!" The screen then pulled Sven back up who had completely removed the machine from its hole thanks with the help of the security forces. The large tuning fork portion seemed to be missing.

"They have a retraction button on them but it apparently was only meant for a one time use. The fork fell into the hot magma," the fair skinned man explained.

"I need you to head to a second location where we have stopped a second attempt. You should be getting coordinates now," Mwende told him.

"We're on the move but we are leaving a few men behind to guard the hole," Ali spoke up.

"Good call. Contact us again when you've reached the second site," the President ordered. With that the call ended and Lion-O was about to suggest speaking to the two Thunderian doctors when there was a knock on the door of the secure conference room.


	11. Chapter 11

Pali entered the secure conference room and Cheetara could sense something was up. Her whole body had felt like it had been wired this whole time and she'd been pushing it aside to function. Now she grabbed Lion-O's arm and he didn't even need to look at her to know what she was thinking.

"What's going on Pali?" Lion-O asked.

"I am sorry to interrupt but Lord Tygra thought I should speak to you," the lizard said.

"We're just waiting on news. If you'll excuse me, I believe the good Thunderian doctors should be brought up to speed," Mwende smiled slightly and exited the room.

"All right tell us what's up," Panthro said.

"My mother has taken a turn for the worse. She won't survive a mass evacuation," Pali spoke so quickly that the words just tumbled out. Before he knew what was happening, Cheetara had her arms around him in a big hug.

"What can we do to help?" She asked after releasing him from the hug.

"President Kachi says that the medical transport is scheduled in an hour but the doctors won't let my father join her. She could die before reaching New Thundera. He must go with her," Pali's shoulders slumped.

"Ok. Does she need some sort of procedure? Is there any way we help to get her stable until Tygra and Pumyra can help her?" Lion-O asked.

"The equipment that is helping her breathe is sensitive and these earthquakes have been disrupting them. If we can stabilize the equipment she might have a better shot so that the doctors can switch her to a more robust apparatus that would survive travel and perform the necessary surgery to fix her lungs. They don't want to chance her having to deal the with pressure differential inside the ship when they evacuate without the surgery. Everyone at the hospital has been trying their best but they can't get her stable," he explained.

"Let the way kid. Ben-Gali and I will get the equipment stable," Panthro told him.

"Thank you sir. You have no idea how much this means to me and my father," the Mutant said. Panthro clapped him on the back but before they could leave the room, Lion-O spoke up,

"Be safe out there. If need be, evacuate with Pali's people. Tara and I can fly the Feliner home." Panthro nodded and then led Pali out the door so they could grab Ben-Gali. As they left, Mwende walked back into the room with Doctors Summa and Centi.

"The progression algorithm is complete. We've entered the last quake data and so far the numbers are promising. If the last quake was in fact the last one, the tremors should ride themselves out by tomorrow afternoon and then we'll have to check for planet stability and other factors. Once we've done that then we can determine if the planet is safe," Centi explained.

"Then I think it would be foolish to stop the evacuations that are already scheduled. Should the markers not prove in our favor or there are more quakes then we will have wasted precious time," Mwende said.

"I concur. Any thoughts on the holes created for those earthquake machines?" Lion-O asked.

"Well trying to fill them won't work. The best thing I think that could be done would be to provide some sort of safety enclosure around them. Since they are outside the biospheres, it isn't like people will be travelling near them. Though President Mwende explained Doctor Sven and Doctor Ali's concerns, and I have to admit, they are right. It will take more thought on our part for a solution," Summa spoke up.

"Very well. See what you can come up with," Lion-O urged them. They nodded and headed back out to the laboratory.

"We need to find the people responsible for this," Mwende clenched his fists.

"They're betting on us being distracted by evacuations. Which makes me wonder if the people responsible haven't already left," the lion frowned.


	12. Chapter 12

Night was falling and the evacuations had begun. Those needing medical attention had left hours before, giving them a good head start and hopefully a smooth ride. Pali's father had been allowed to travel with his now more stable wife but their adoptive son had stayed behind, joining the ThunderCats back in the main building which house Mwende's office.

The teams from out in the field had brought back the men they had captured and were interrogating them as Lion-O and the others ate dinner with President Mwende as his guests. They tried to keep the talk light but it was hard to do with the uncertainty surrounding their situation. Now with the dinner plates cleared and dessert and coffee on the way, Mwende turned to business.

"The men who were captured did not speak English. In fact they spoke Russian so it would seem that my earlier theory was correct," he shook his head.

"So what is the plan?" Lion-O asked.

"Well we first need to confirm they are in fact Russian citizens. If they are, I will approach President Kostoff about this and see what he has to say. He is a reasonable man and I can't imagine him trying something this stupid," Mwende told them.

"I would think that if he is as reasonable as you say that he would have no knowledge of what was going on," Cheetara said.

"This is true but he will know where to look for anyone who would have sent these men to do what they did. As far as the security forces can figure, none of the men captured would have the intelligence required to create such a machine. They were only sent out to install the machine and start it up once they had drilled the hole they needed," the President explained.

"You would need a background in seismology, physics, and engineering. While one person may not possess all the necessary skills, a team certainly would," Doctor Centi spoke up.

"Agreed. Though I have to admit the last two requirements are not exactly narrowing the field much. It would make more sense to go after the seismologist and have him or her lead us to the scientist and the engineer," Panthro said.

"My security forces are running the backgrounds of the Russian seismologists that Kostoff sent us when the problem with earthquakes became an issue. So far nothing to indicate that any of them would do something like this," Mwende told them.

"How many of them did Kostoff send?" Ben-Gali asked.

"He sent two and they are highly regarded in their field," the President said.

"Then I would suggest they look for someone who isn't so highly regarded. Or perhaps someone who has made a large monetary deposit recently that would stand out," the white tiger recommended.

"Already ahead of you on that. Figured I should have as much information as I could before approaching Kostoff with this," the President nodded.

"Sounds like you have everything covered. Since there haven't been more earthquakes, what is the plan for tomorrow morning?" Lion-O wanted to know.

"Doctors Summa, Sven, and Ali will accompany me out in the field to do some tests on the soil surrounding the new small volcanoes and see if they could threaten to open wider. The outposts for seismic readings will have to be checked as well to make sure that they haven't been damaged and have therefore been giving false readings," Doctor Centi said.

"Very good. Are we foreseeing any issues with the evacuation schedule?" Lion-O asked.

"So far so good and no unauthorized exits from the planet, so I'm thinking our perpetrators are still somewhere on this rock," Mwende told them.

"Then hopefully we'll catch them before anything else happens," Cheetara said.


	13. Chapter 13

The morning dawned without an earthquake to be felt and everyone was feeling hopeful that they had fixed the problem. Doctors Centi, Summa, Sven, and Ali headed out to the possible volcanoes and Lion-O made a call to New Thundera to see how things were going. The time difference meant that most were sleeping back on their home planet but the crew in the Control Room updated him as much as possible while passing along that the medical patients would be arriving within the hour. Lion-O was pleased to hear it and promised to call back later.

"Things seem to be moving along," he said to Cheetara.

"Good to know," she smiled.

"Should we get some breakfast? I'm starving," the lion told her.

"You're always hungry," she chuckled.

"This is true," Lion-O smirked and pulled her in for a hug and a quick kiss. The two then headed out of Mwende's office and down to the breakroom. Panthro, Ben-Gali, and Pali were eating in relative silence; a lot on their minds.

"Your folks should be landing back home very shortly. They promised an update as soon as they could," Lion-O announced to the reptile.

"That is excellent news. Thank you Sir," Pali smiled for the first time in a long time.

"Where is President Mwende?" Cheetara asked.

"He had breakfast with the good doctors before heading over to Russia. My guess is that he wanted to talk to Kostoff in person," Panthro told them.

"Probably didn't want their phone call intercepted. Did he leave any instructions? I feel pretty useless sitting around," Lion-O admitted.

"He didn't. Probably figured we'd want to talk to home and see how things were going," Ben-Gali said.

"I do need to call Third Earth and check up on them. Tygra is worried that if the evacuations need to continue that we'll fall far behind in housing for the winter," the King relayed.

"Not sure what we can do about it. Perhaps Ben and I can come up with a way to heat the spaceships without having them run their engines and clog the air with exhaust," Panthro suggested.

"Good idea," Cheetara nodded before tucking into her toast.

"I concur. We can't be poisoning the atmosphere while we're trying to handle the new population. Speaking of new population, I think we all need to talk policing. The ThunderGuard can't handle the influx and we'll have to try to be welcoming. This will be a very scary experience for most of the people who will be joining us on New Thundera and Third Earth," Lion-O pointed out.

"Excellent point Sir. Though I cannot speak to the others of Mars, my people were welcoming to me. Of course that is not to say there weren't bumps in the road but I think overall it was good for everyone," Pali spoke up.

"Yes the adjustment period could be tricky for all sides," Ben-Gali admitted. Just then their breakfast was interrupted by the phone on the wall ringing. Lion-O got up and answered it. The phone call was short and then he turned to the group.

"Mwende will be landing shortly. I guess his trip to Russia didn't go well since he wasn't gone long," the lion frowned.

"We better hope that something came of it. Especially if it turns out the planet is still stable and can be lived on," Cheetara said.

"Agreed. We don't want anyone to have more trouble. What worries me is that someone could have produced more of those earthquake machines," Panthro shook his head.


	14. Chapter 14

President Mwende walked into the breakroom to find most of the ThunderCats still sitting there. Panthro and Ben-Gali were talking about some sort of heater and Cheetara was speaking to Pali about something that he could not hear. Lion-O was noticeably absent.

"Where is King Lion-O?" He asked, the others quickly turning from their conversations.

"He is calling Third Earth to see what progress they are making. While we are speaking of progress, how did your trip go?" Cheetara wanted to know.

"Kostoff wasn't happy to hear what I had to say, especially once I showed him that the men we captured yesterday were in fact Russian Nationals. He's got the FSB looking into it and he's promised aid to the Doctors as they investigate the new holes in our planet. The bigger issue is that Russia is scheduled to begin evacuations within the hour," Mwende explained as he took a seat at the table.

"FSB?" Panthro raised an eyebrow.

"It is their national security agency, hunting terrorists is what they do when they aren't secretly terrorizing the citizens. Though I will admit that they are a step in the right direction from the predecessors," the President said.

"Ah, I see. Well in the meantime, what do you need us to do?" Cheetara asked.

"I'm afraid that until I hear back from Kostoff or the doctors out in the field, we'll be waiting. Evacuations are continuing on schedule so I am confident that one way or the other, people will be safe," he told them.

"Ah good, you're here. The doctors are calling in from the field," Lion-O smiled after poking his head into the room from the hallway. The group quickly got up and headed for Mwende's office.

"What have you found?" Mwende asked once everyone was in the room and the door was shut.

"There really is no way to plug these holes without making them larger which we've all discussed is not an option," Doctor Centi told them.

"Can we just build an enclosure around them to keep people out?" The President wanted to know.

"Not really. Should you get naturally occurring earthquakes, the hole could widen and lava could spew forth. The best option would be to move the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese biospheres away from their current location and place them in another safe location. They are damaged anyway and in need of substantial repairs. Luckily, they have already started evacuations," Centi said.

"How long does it take to build a new biosphere?" Lion-O asked Mwende.

"To build one the proper size for China, it would probably take eighteen months. Korea and Japan are smaller but they would still take a year each. It took a long time to get the systems up and running when we came here from Earth," he heaved a sigh.

"What about the state of the planet? There haven't been any more earthquakes. Do things seem stable?" Cheetara inquired.

"Things seem to be settling down my Queen. The Russian aid arrived and quickly got to work checking the nearby sensors. Some were damaged so they were replaced and everything seems quiet. I think we'll need more data before we can call the planet completely safe. Even then, it would probably not be a guarantee," Centi said.

"We aren't looking for guarantees, only that the planet will be livable once the damaged biospheres are fixed and the others moved," Mwende told him.  
"I want at least two or three more days before I can give you anything. This type of data isn't something that can be collected overnight. It takes cautious and careful study," the seismologist put his foot down.

"Very good. Wrap up what you need to and head back," with that Mwende ended the phone call.

"Once everyone is safely off this rock, we can go over the doctors' figures and then we will need to go from there. For right now, our best shot at making this all come together is to get everyone working on the housing on New Thundera and Third Earth. Whether they are to become our permanent residences or we are able to move back here, there will be those who will not be able to move back right away," the President said to the group.

"I couldn't agree more. With any luck the perpetrators will be caught before they reach New Thundera," Lion-O hoped.

"Yes it seems that I had better check in with our Russian friends before they begin their evacuations," Mwende picked up the phone.


	15. Chapter 15

The day passed slowly as the ThunderCats helped with whatever they could. Mwende's call to the Russians earlier in the morning had not resulted in any captures and regrettably the Russian biosphere was already emptied and the ships had headed to New Thundera. Kostoff promised that the investigation would continue and hopefully the perpetrators would be caught before arriving on the ThunderCats' home planet. Mwende and Lion-O had been in contact as often as they could with the Russian President but still as dinner drew near there was no word. The first Russian ship would be landing on New Thundera inside of three hours. Wisely, the Asian communities had been sent to Third Earth to hopefully avoid any more conflict.

"No word yet Sir?" Pali asked as Lion-O exited Mwende's office.

"I'm afraid not. We're probably asking too much anyway given the tiny time frame," the lion sighed.

"Probably so. Should I place a call to Mandora and tell her the situation?" The reptile wanted to know.

"Yes please. Send her my regards and ask if the Evil Chasers have any idea on how to help. I probably should have had you call her yesterday but things being what they were…" Lion-O trailed off.

"Not to worry Sir. I'm on it," Pali smiled and then headed into Mwende's office as the President was leaving.

"Well I guess all we can do now is wait," the man shook his head, obviously frustrated.

"I suppose so. In the meantime, we should probably brief everyone on the status of the evacuations and how the doctors' work is coming along," Lion-O suggested.

"Excellent idea. I'll have them head to the break room," Mwende said and he quickly picked up the wall phone and made the announcement.

Fifteen minutes later, when the rest of the ThunderCats and the doctors arrived, the President of Mars brought everyone up to speed. Pali added that the Evil Chasers were now brought in on what was going on and were assembling a team that would be there was quickly as they could. The doctors then spoke up, noting that the absence of any more quakes was a good thing but that readings were still coming in from sensors all over the planet and they were closely monitoring things.

"I'd say we're on track to have everyone off the planet but us in about a day and a half," Mwende then said.

"That's good. Hopefully while everyone is off the planet, we can monitor conditions and see if anything pops up regarding the quakes. This way there will be no unseen forces changing the planet's natural balance while we collect our data," Doctor Centi spoke up.

"Agreed. The sooner we find out if Mars will sustain life the better," Lion-O nodded.

"Yes. That way we can start the process of creating new biospheres in stable zones of the planet for the Asian population," Mwende agreed.

"What do you intend to do with those that started this in the first place?" Cheetara asked.

"I have no idea. While we can't speak to whether or not they intended to harm the whole planet, I can't see letting them off anytime soon," the President said.

"Perhaps we should leave the punishment to Mandora when she arrives," Pali suggested.

"It would certainly fit inside her jurisdiction," Panthro nodded.

"That it would. Something I will have to talk to the Council about first," Mwende told them.

"Understandable," Lion-O said. Before anyone else could speak up, the phone on the wall rang and Mwende quickly answered it. Whoever was on the phone call spoke in a language that no one at the table understood so they waited for a full explanation from the President when he got off the line.

"The security forces have broken our suspects. Seems they didn't like the prospect of being left behind with no escape off the planet," Mwende smirked slightly.

"Ah motivation," Lion-O chuckled.

"So what did they say?" Panthro was curious.

"They don't have a line up the chain of command but they say they were working with a Doctor Rostov. Does that name ring any bells?" Mwende looked at Sven and Ali.

"I can remember that name but from some time ago, certainly not someone up on latest events," Sven frowned. Ali was a little more helpful.

"I know the man. He taught at the university I attended. There is no way he would be involved in something like this," the middle-eastern doctor said.

"Well maybe he had no choice. Some of the men we arrested work for the Russian Mob," Mwende heaved a sigh, delivering more news that had come from the phone call.

"Mob?" Cheetara raised an eyebrow.

"A criminal organization that involves itself with money laundering, murder, and other illicit activities," Pali filled in. The cheetah nodded and everyone turned their attention back to Mwende.

"Ok so why would this Mob care if the Asians were making life difficult for the Russian military?" Ben-Gali asked.

"That my friend is the million dollar question," the President frowned.


	16. Chapter 16

The next morning dawned and with it came a phone call from Mandora. She and her team would be landing on Mars inside of two hours and they brought with them everything they had on the Mob's intergalactic interests. Pali thanked her for getting everything together so quickly and promised to greet them when they landed.

"Well hopefully they have something that could help the investigation. I guess that I didn't realize this Mob organization would have such reach," Lion-O commented as he and Pali talked over their breakfasts.

"Mandora said that they have arrested Mobsters in the past so that's why they have a file on them. I guess one planet isn't enough to do business on," the reptile shrugged.

"Kind of sounds like the Mutants. No offense," Panthro raised an eyebrow as he walked into the break room with his breakfast.

"None taken. I don't really identify with them anyway. I don't need to," Pali smiled slightly.

"How are your folks by the way?" Ben-Gali asked.

"They are doing as well as to be expected. Lord Tygra is helping my mother's doctors decide the best treatment for her condition and my dad's heart seems to be getting stronger since the adjustment in his medication," the reptile told them.

"Glad to hear things are better," Lion-O said.

"I miss anything?" Cheetara wondered as she walked into the room.

"I'll bring you up to speed but first, how are our little ones?" Her husband wanted to know.

"Leo misses us and Sahara is enjoying time with her Aunt Lea. Lea says that she has to hold Sahara until she goes to sleep because she misses us and refuses to go to bed without her mother," the cheetah sighed.

"She hasn't been sleeping with us in the bed why would she need to be held?" Lion-O was a little concerned.

"Her teddy bear has gone missing and Lea says that they've turned the Lair upside down looking for it but they couldn't find it until late last night. It would seem somehow Teddy ended up in with the dirty laundry," Cheetara explained.

"Oh boy. I hope Snarf can whip up that special soap his uses to get things clean and smelling fresh," the lion said.

"Lea says he's already on it. Otherwise things are moving along with the construction. It seems to be a good trust exercise as well. Your sister says that they haven't really had any issues with getting the humans to work alongside their Thunderian counterparts," the cheetah smiled.

"Excellent," Lion-O breathed a sigh of relief. New could be very scary for people and Thunderians alike and he hoped that things were moving smoothly. Language was a barrier for some but fear was a barrier for others. Still as long as kindness was being shown on both sides than peace for however long people needed to live there would be achieved.

"Good morning all," Mwende said as he entered the breakroom.

"Good morning sir. I hope you slept well," Lion-O smiled slightly.

"I'll sleep better when the people responsible are caught and Mars is stable again," the President admitted.

"I know but you need your strength. The Evil Chasers are about an hour out by now. Mandora says she might have something we can use," the lion explained.

"Excellent to hear," Mwende smiled. The phone rang on the wall and Cheetara answered it. She quickly thanked the caller after the short phone call and then turned to the group. Lion-O could tell by the look on her face she wasn't sure what to make of it.

"What is it Queen Cheetara?" Mwende could tell that something was off.

"That was the Control Room. They received a broken call from President Kostoff's secure line aboard his ship. They are unsure why the call could not be completed and have been unable to reach him. Lea has dispatched ThunderGuard troops to investigate with the help of their Russian counterparts," she explained.

"That can't be good," Panthro shook his head.


	17. Chapter 17

"What have we got?" Lea asked as she entered the Russians ship. The ThunderGuard parted like the Red Sea and she was easily directed to the Captain in charge. A young, handsome litah by the name of Pau was looking over the scene before he quickly bowed to the ThunderCat and current planetary leader.

"Princess," he said.

"Captain," she nodded before continuing, "What have you found?"

"We have two dead and two injured Russian Presidential Security Service agents and President Kostoff is missing. His phone was smashed and there is blood in his office. It's too early to know whose blood it is but I have the crime scene techs working with their Russian counterparts to figure it out," Pau explained.

"No one saw the President getting dragged off of the ship? I mean its broad daylight for cripes sakes," Lea shook her head.

"The Russians refuse to give us complete access to the ship but my guess is that Kostoff and his kidnappers are somewhere still on the ship. As you pointed out, someone would have noticed the President being dragged away in broad daylight," the Captain said.

"Pardon my interruption," a Russian dressed in a very snappy grey suit spoke up.

"You are?" Lea asked.

"I am Deputy Director Alexei Pozdnyakov of the FSB. We have secured our Director in a safe location and I am here to offer my assistance," he bowed to Lea.

"It is good to meet you sir though I wish it was under better circumstances," the lioness smiled slightly.

"I would agree Princess. If you'll forgive me, I am surprised you are visiting the crime scene," Alexei said.

"I may be a Princess but I am also a ThunderCat and leader of the ThunderCats while my brother and his wife are on Mars. Acts such as these garner my full attention," she told him.

"Then the Russian people are most happy you would do so. President Kostoff is a good man and I find his disappearance more than disturbing. My investigative team has dug up some information which I was to give the President but I never got the chance," Alexei frowned.

"If you could help us make a thorough search of the entire ship and find witnesses that would be most helpful. We find it odd that no one saw anything," the lioness said.

"I will make sure the ship is open to the ThunderGuard. As for witnesses, they might be hard to find. I am not sure of how your people view the police but the Russian public is still skeptical of them. Hundreds of years of corruption and public incidents have made them wary much of which stems back to a time when speaking ill of ones' political leaders could get one shot," the FSB Deputy Director frowned again.

"Given that no Thunderians were allowed past the housing construction zone, I'm afraid someone in your ranks has committed this crime and if President Kostoff cannot be found on this ship, he could be anywhere on this planet. Things may look calm but for those that do not know the areas outside the city, it can be very dangerous," Lea warned.

"I understand. Can we get vehicles in the air for scanning purposes?" Alexei asked.

"I ordered them just before I left the Lair. If there is anything to find from the air, we've got it covered," she told him.

"Princess! A call from King Lion-O is being patched through to your transport ship!" An excited private announced.

"If you gentlemen will excuse me," Lea bowed her head slightly and headed back out to her ship, eager to hear what her brother had to say.


	18. Chapter 18

"Hello brother. I wish this call was under better circumstances," Lea smiled slightly to the lion on the screen. She had locked herself in the secure communications room of her transport so that only she and Lion-O could be part of the conversation.

"I do as well sister but Mandora has some information that could aid you in the investigation. Pali has sent it via secure connection to the Lair. How goes it?" Lion-O wanted to know.

"Blood at the scene, a smashed phone, no witnesses, two dead guards, and two injured guards. I'm told the Russian public does not necessarily trust its police force so I'm afraid the scene is all we have. I find the timing of this whole thing odd," Lea admitted.

"Doesn't sound promising. The timing is odd considering there cannot be many escape routes from inside the ship. What of any security cameras?" The King asked.

"My guess is that the cameras will be useless. This crime had to take inside knowledge and inside help. Plus there had to be more than one assailant," the lioness frowned.

"Trust no one outside of the ThunderGuard and stay safe. I have little doubt that the men responsible for kidnapping the President also are responsible for the earthquake machines," Lion-O said.

"I'll do what I can. As soon as I know something, you'll know something," Lea promised.

"Good. Take care," with that Lion-O ended the video call and headed out of Mwende's office.

"Does Lea need backup?" Mandora asked.

"Not right now but it doesn't look promising as far as leads go. Perhaps the information you brought will help her," the King smiled.

"I hope so. Now what is left to do?" The Evil Chaser wanted to know.

"The good doctors are working on keeping an eye on the planet. Evacuations are moving smoothly. I'm not sure what else we can do," Panthro heaved a sigh, missing home and his beloved. He had been in the middle of something important that he wanted to share with the lioness when all the hullabaloo had begun.

"My men have extracted everything they could out of the teams who had used the earthquake machines. I fear the only thing left is to what for the final evacuees to leave and then get off this rock ourselves. I really need to speak with the Council," Mwende spoke up.

"Incoming phone call," Mwende's electronic office door panel announced.

"Lea?" Lion-O wondered. Mwende shrugged and quickly headed in on his own. He was gone not long at all and that made everyone in the room nervous.

"President Kostoff was found. He suffered severe injuries and is close to death," he slumped his shoulders.

"I think it's time the Evil Chasers headed to New Thundera," Mandora said.

"Agreed. Pali, grab your gear and report to Mandora," Lion-O ordered.

"Yes, sir!" The reptile was off like a shot.

"What exactly will the Evil Chasers be able to accomplish that the Princess cannot?" Mwende asked.

"Not much really but our presence will be needed. The earthquake machines and the attempted murder of the President, now make it our jurisdiction on New Thundera. Our reach is great and our forces are feared throughout the evil portions of the galaxy. Needless to say, when we land on New Thundera, our criminals will know they are in serious trouble and with any luck, they'll make a mistake," Mandora smirked before giving her goodbyes. Lion-O promised to transport the Evil Chaser scientists back to New Thundera when they left and she thanked him before leaving the room.


	19. Chapter 19

"President Zhukov, please let me extend New Thundera and Third Earth's sympathies to you and the entire Russian nation. The doctors are doing all they can to save President Kostoff," Lea spoke to the former Vice President. In the wake of Kostoff being unable to attend his duties, the Vice President had been promoted. Now Zhukov, Lea, and a select few were inside the Lair's main conference room.

"I thank you Princess and your people. King Lion-O also conveyed his concern when I spoke to him and President Mwende. It seems that not only are my people in debt to New Thundera and Third Earth but so is all of Mars. So let us return the favor. How may we be of assistance?" Zhukov wanted to know.

"Using the intel passed on from the Evil Chasers and from Deputy Director Pozdnyakov, we believe that it was an inside job. Have you or President Kostoff received death threats lately? Is there someone stirring up political trouble?" Lea asked.

"There is always political trouble in Russia but as of late we believe there is a man, Vladimir Rodchenko, who is trying to run for the Presidency with less than honorable intentions. You see the general election is but six months away and though Kostoff has been leading the polls, some of his major supporters have been receiving threats. My guess is that the people responsible for the earthquake machines are also behind these threats. Alexei informed me that they had found Doctor Rostov's apartment trashed before we left Mars and no one has yet been able to find the scientist. We fear that he never made it off of Mars," Zhukov sighed.

"So this Rodchenko could be behind this? Anyone know where he is?" Lea pressed.

"Oh we know where he is but any move against him will look more like a political one than a criminal one. He is well connected in Russian society," the current President shook his head.

"Good thing the Evil Chasers are on their way then. Mandora will get what we need out of him. Now that only addresses the problem of who is probably behind this. It doesn't mop up the edges so to speak," the lioness told him.

"The Evil Chasers are coming? Mop up the edges?" Zhukov gave her a nervous look.

"Mandora has jurisdiction as the related crimes have crossed interplanetary boundaries. Now as for mopping up the edges, we still need to find the people inside President Kostoff's security detail that aided in his assault and kidnapping. I'm thinking that they have some connection to the men arrested on Mars with the earthquake machines," she said.

"You're probably right. I have Deputy Director Pozdnyakov working on it along with your ThunderGuard investigation team," he replied.

"Excellent. Now how much do you know about this spat between your country and China? How does Rodchenko fit into it?" The Princess inquired.

"Rodchenko is well connected as I said. There are quite a few business men who do not like being held by their shorts by the Chinese government. What they fail to realize is that we as a country do not have enough people with technical degrees and training to aid in the manufacture of the necessary technology for the items in question and we don't have access to the material needed to produce them either. Japan would offer a fair price if the President before Kostoff hadn't insulted the Japanese President. Needless to say, things were tenuous at best before that and now they are nonexistent. Still that does not mean that there will be people who will sit idly by while we pay extravagant prices," he explained.

"Hasn't Kostoff tried to negotiate with China?" Lea wondered.

"He was trying right up until the attempt on President Chang's life," Zhukov admitted. Lea heaved a sigh when a call buzzed into the room. She picked up the phone closest to her and answered it. Soon after she thanked the caller on the other end and then said,

"I am truly sorry gentlemen. President Kostoff is dead."


	20. Chapter 20

"So you're Vladimir Rodchenko. Nice to finally meet you," Mandora smirked slightly as she interrogated the man who sat in the chair across the table. Lea had gotten Zhukov to tell her where the Presidential candidate was and when Mandora arrived on the planet later the previous evening, the lioness had filled her in. Now the next morning, the Evil Chaser was working the suspect over down in the bowels of the Lair, inside the holding area.

"I'm not exactly sure why I was rousted out of my bed at such an early hour," Rodchenko spoke in rough English, his Russian accent thick.

"Well you see President Kostoff is still in critical condition and since you're running against him, you're the first one I want to talk to," Mandora said, leaving out the part about the President's death.

"You've been speaking to Zhukov. He's a fool if he thinks I tried to take out the President," Rodchenko shook his head.

"Oh I don't know. Though space is vast, political rivals trying to eliminate one another is hardly uncommon. In fact, the Mutants did it not so long ago. Now, Kostoff was leading in the race for the Presidency before you all were forced to evacuate. His murder leaves only you and I'm guessing Zhukov would take Kostoff's position should the worst happen. Zhukov actually would be a worse opponent since his family comes from a long line of people who have done a lot of good work for Mother Russia. Though I bet he's not as connected as you," Mandora said.

"He is definitely not connected as I am and he has the spine of a wet stroganoff noodle; a far cry from his distant relatives who saved Mother Russia all those generations ago. He was more of a party favor than a running mate," the Russian chuckled.

"Makes you the number one suspect then," Mandora told him.

"Then why is the FSB not torturing me?" He wanted to know.

"Well you see the crime started on Mars. Makes this an intergalactic incident and those are the Evil Chasers bread and butter," she smirked.

"You've lost me," Rodchenko played coy.

"See the person who ordered the creation of the earthquake machines and then turned them loose on Mars also tried to assassinate President Kostoff. Only other Russians had a beef with both China and Kostoff, and you're it. To me it seems silly to have attempted the assassination considering the fact that this person had to know that the earthquake machines failed in their ultimate goal. Though those that did not know the two were related would think that China was just retaliating. This can be ruled out because FSB found the leak last night. They cornered him and rather than talk, he killed himself but not before claiming what he'd done was for Mother Russia. Three more suicides followed per this morning's talk with FSB. The team who tried to assassinate Kostoff could have just shot him and been done with it but they wanted something from him. I think you know what that is because I think you're behind this," The Evil Chaser said.

"It's all very convoluted. I think I should be asking for my attorney now," Rodchenko told her.

"Why do you need one if you're innocent?" Mandora prodded.

"It doesn't matter how innocent you are in Russia. Things have a way of working themselves out and usually not in the suspect's best interest," he gave her a look. He had yet to crack and the Evil Chaser's dander was getting up.

"Well you can certainly make your phone call. While we're waiting, do you know a Doctor Sergei Rostov?" Mandora asked as she pointed to the phone on the wall. The call would be patched through to the Lair's Control Room and then to the FSB's ship headquarters.

"I'm a Russian so I must know all of the other Russians, is that it?" Rodchenko asked while he waited for his call to be patched.

"We found his body on Mars before I left. Seems that whomever he was working for made sure he wouldn't talk, though they didn't do a good job of hiding his body. We found the poor bugger in the sewer, a laser blaster blast through his forehead. Some of my team is still collecting evidence. We might get lucky and find something that ties his killer to the scene," Mandora shrugged. Rodchenko said nothing as someone on the other end started speaking to him. She wasn't sure but Mandora could have sworn she saw him sweat.


	21. Chapter 21

Rodchenko had clammed up but Mandora wasn't done just yet. She went to the Lair's Control Room and called Mars to check up on everyone. Lion-O reported that they'd be heading to New Thundera shortly. The planet had been calm since the earthquake machines had been stopped but the holes left still had no solution.

"Has my team found anything they could use in catching the people responsible for Kostoff and the machines?" The Evil Chaser wanted to know.

"They've collected a lot of somethings but they said they want to use the facilities on New Thundera before they draw any conclusions. I believe they're sending you a secured e-mail now," Lion-O explained.

"Excellent. We need to nail this bastard and quick. How is Mwende holding up?" She asked.

"Good I guess. He's just hoping that moving the biospheres is the only thing they have to do to make Mars livable for everyone again," he said.

"I've got more Evil Chasers working on a solution back at headquarters. The Space Council of Planets has been in touch as well. They are sending help to New Thundera and Third Earth to make sure all the temporary housing is finished before the weather takes a turn later this year. They might be able to help with the new biospheres too," Mandora told him.

"We were trying to keep things quiet until we had our bad guy in custody but that was a pipe dream anyway. I will be on hand to thank everyone personally," Lion-O smiled.

"Well you're never in this alone you know. One call to me and…" she trailed off.

"We thought we could handle it but it was becoming daunting and dangerous. I'm just glad that Mars is stable enough to hold people again," he smiled back.

"Oh I'm sure you're not the only one. See you tonight," with that the call ended and Mandora turned to leave when Lea came into the Control Room.

"What's up?" The Evil Chaser wondered.

"If I said not much would you believe me?" The lioness joked.

"Yeah that's rich," Mandora chuckled.

"FSB has taken Rodchenko's lawyer to him. The lawyer is of course demanding the release of his client," Lea said.

"Well we can't hold him yet. My team is heading to New Thundera with your brother shortly. We should have some more solid evidence once they use your crime lab this evening," the Evil Chaser explained.

"Ok so meantime, FSB should probably tail him. I know we can't," Lea pointed out.

"Not sure I trust them completely but that Alexei seems like a good guy. Maybe he has some trusted people he could put on it," Mandora wondered.

"Couldn't hurt to ask. Might want to keep what your team has a secret though until they get here," the lioness suggested.

"Oh definitely keeping that close to the vest. Speaking of which, why hasn't that panther put a ring on that finger of yours yet?" Mandora switched topics.

"I imagine he's afraid of Lion-O's reaction. Technically, I'm the older sister but sometimes he treats me like a younger sister. Plus it would also make him a Prince of Thundera and fourth in line to become Lord of the ThunderCats. Marrying me is quite complicated," she said.

"Complicated, scomplicated. He loves you, you've been dating for a long while; he needs to man up," the blonde told her.

"Maybe when things aren't so crazy," Lea chuckled and shook her head.

"Oh yes because that is going to happen," Mandora teased.


	22. Chapter 22

Later that night, the ship heading from Mars to New Thundera landed with little fanfare. The Evil Chaser team quickly headed down to the crime lab to test the evidence. Mandora escorted them there and Lion-O went about getting President Mwende set up in his office. At first the President refused to take the King's office but Lion-O told him it was a safe place to meet with Council Members and he could make private, secure calls from it. Mwende relented and thanked the lion for his help once again. The lion left the President to make some phone calls and went to find his sister.

"Lion-O," Lea smiled and pulled him in for a hug as he walked into the Control Room.

"How's things?" He asked.

"Well we've got surveillance on our suspect and that's all we can do right now. Kostoff's condition is being held closely. No formal announcement by his replacement will be made until tomorrow. We don't really want to say anything but the longer we try to hold off the harder it will be to keep everyone quiet," she sighed.

"Understandable. Mwende wants to inform the Council members first anyway. Once he does that, we can do what we have to do," Lion-O said.

"Well Tygra said, he should make the announcement and I told him I should because this happened on my watch. He's not backing down since technically Kostoff is his patient," Lea explained.

"I'll talk to him. If anyone should be making the announcement, it should be Kostoff's replacement. In their time of need, the Russian people have to know that their government is still intact. Once I speak to Tygra, I'll speak to Mwende and see how he feels. I appreciate you keeping things together while Tara and I were off planet," he smiled.

"I'm not sure I did that," she gave him a look.

"What happened to Kostoff was already in the works long before Mars was evacuated. None of this is anyone's fault except those that planned it," Lion-O pointed out. Lea nodded but she didn't feel any better. The Control Room doors opened and in walked Cheetara.

"The kids were glad to see me but they're asking for their daddy," she smiled.

"Duty calls," he gave Lea a wink and Cheetara a quick kiss before headed out of the door. Lea watched him go and then turned her focus to her best friend.

"You have to be exhausted," the lioness said.

"Hard to sleep when you're not sure if the ground will stop moving under your feet. Needless to say, I'm glad to be home," the cheetah admitted before giving her a hug.

"Glad to have you back. The kids missed you something terrible and the whole Teddy incident didn't help," Lea shook her head.

"Well Sahara showed me Teddy as soon as I walked in the room. She said that Auntie Lea was her hero for saving her best friend," Cheetara smiled.

"Good to know I'm her favorite aunt," Lea chuckled.

"Oh you are in good now, sister. Has Panthro come to talk to you?" The cheetah asked.

"Not yet. He called up here and said that he and Ben wanted to go over the Feliner. She was apparently over capacity on your trip home and he's hoping there was no serious damage done to her," the lioness explained. Cheetara was about to say something when Li-en called from the main switchboard.

"Mandora needs Lion-O down at the crime lab," he said.

"Good to see you back at the helm, Li-en. I'll get him and we'll head over there. Give Cavan and the kids my best," the cheetah smiled.

"Will do," he smiled back and then Cheetara took off with her trademark speed to find her husband.


	23. Chapter 23

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Russian Republic, it is with great sadness that must announce the passing of President Kostoff. Our medical staff, along with our Thunderian allies, did all they could but they were unable to safe him. He was a great man who did many great things for Mother Russia and I know that if he were here right now he would encourage each and every Russian citizen to hold fast in the trying times ahead. President Mwende and King Lion-O have offered any assistance they may give to get us through this grief that we now share.

"That being said, they have also offered their assistance in discovering the people behind the assassination of our beloved President. Mandora of the Evil Chasers is heading up the criminal investigation and is also heading up the investigation into the earthquakes on Mars. It has been discovered that some of our own people created machines in an effort to force the stability of the planet into question. During this process, Doctor Sergei Rostov was forced into helping these criminals and eventually murdered. Doctor Rostov was an acclaimed seismologist and a Russian patriot. His death along with the death of our President will be avenged. If you have any information, please come forward," Zhukov asked the people via his broadcast from the safety of the Control Room at Cats Lair. It was a closed press conference which Lion-O thought was best given what had been discovered the previous evening.

"There will be announcements in the coming days as we prepare a national funeral for our fallen President and comrade. Thank you," he finished. The announcement ended and Zhukov turned to Mandora and Lion-O.

"Have we done the right thing?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" The lion was confused.

"Won't a national funeral bring out all the crazies?" Zhukov clarified.

"No because my team is already picking up the crazies and they will roll over on the other crazies. I gave my team specific instructions so we can avoid the others behind the plot from offing themselves," Mandora smirked.

"I appreciate all your assistance. I want this to be as clean as it can be. The political fallout that is sure to come will be interesting to say the least, never mind the punishment which is undoubtedly coming from the Council," he said.

"I'm not sure if the Council would want to punish all of Russia but I suppose that could happen," Lion-O shrugged.

"The corruption that Kostoff had been fighting against still exists. The sanctions will be coming until we can clean up our own messes," Zhukov told them.

"Well in the meantime, you stay put. We'll let you know when my team has rounded up all of the suspects," Mandora said.

"Thank you. Perhaps this bunch will be more helpful than the last," the Russian smiled slightly before heading out of the Control Room and back to his chambers.

"Those guys must be something if the former Vice President is worried about them," the Evil Chaser raised an eyebrow.

"My guess is that he's more worried about the men connected to them. You did say that the fingerprints at the scene belonged to known members of the Mob," Lion-O reminded her.

"This is true. That's why I have Alexei scooping up their known associates," Mandora said.

"Deputy Director Pozdnyakov?" It was the lion's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Yes. He's been very helpful and I am glad to have an ally who speaks the language fluently, along with the political scene," she told him.

"Can he be trusted?" Lion-O asked.

"So far, yes. He's someone Zhukov trusts as well," Mandora smiled. It was a different smile then Lion-O had ever seen on the blonde before.

"He's pretty good looking too," he teased. For that the King got punched in the arm.

"Mandora your team is on their way back. Suspects in tow," Punthar announced.

"Excellent. Let them know I'll meet them in the holding area downstairs," she said.


	24. Chapter 24

"We know that Rodchenko ordered the hit on President Kostoff. We also know that he ordered Doctor Rostov to create those earthquake machines. What we don't know is why. Now all your subordinates have tried to remain tight lipped but lord knows that's hard to do when you're talking life sentences on the Penal Planet. Of course the threat of letting the FSB charge and try them for treason was also something they didn't want to hear," Mandora said hours later as she stood in the interrogation room. Her current quarry was the head Mobster's right hand man, Boris Kuznetsov. The men beneath him had all crumbled in the hours they'd been interrogated. Seems like none of them minded prison. It was being called a traitor to Mother Russia they had a problem with.

"What are the names of the men who murdered Kostoff? I will handle them myself," Boris said.

"Regrettably, they're all dead. They offed themselves before we could question them," she explained.

"Then they did not belong to this family. My men would never commit such a sin," he told her.

"But murder is ok?" Mandora was puzzled at his logic.

"There comes a time when one has to show he is strong and show those that disrespect him the error of their ways. Loyalty and honor above all else. Kostoff may not have liked our tactics but he was a true Russian patriot. Harming him would not be in our best interest," Boris explained.

"Even if it meant making Rodchenko, President?" She wanted to know.

"Rodchenko is a good business man but he's not as smart as Kostoff. Having Doctor Rostov whacked was a severe miscalculation," he shook his head.

"Are you saying that Rodchenko had Rostov killed before the evacuation?" Mandora pressed.

"He was told to wait until we were en route to New Thundera. If he'd let us handle it, we wouldn't be talking righty now sugar," Boris said plainly.

"That's Evil Chaser First Class Mandora to you," she frowned.

"Before I say anything further what can you do for me sweet-cheeks? I will not be known as a traitor to my country when it was Rodchenko's buffoons who messed the job up," he told her.

"Well I can offer time on the Penal Planet or you can take your chances with the FSB," Mandora wasn't backing down.

"I can give you Rodchenko on a silver platter but I need reassurances that I won't find myself dead and buried in concrete," Boris offered.

"What kind of evidence are we talking about?" She wanted to know.

"How about physical evidence? You see my boss always knows you need to have a Plan B," he smirked.

"What do you want in exchange?" Mandora raised an eyebrow.

"My boss and I get immunity and my men get their sentences reduced," Boris was going for broke.

"I make that deal and I'll get fired," she said.

"Then I make deal with FSB. They turn over the information they find and you can nab your intergalactic criminal," he offered. Mandora gave him a look and then exited the room to speak with the Russians, President Mwende, and Lion-O.


	25. Chapter 25

"Boris drives a hard bargain," Alexei smirked. He, President Zhukov, President Mwende, Lion-O, Cheetara, and Mandora now sat at the Conference Room table.

"I cannot act on any of this. If I let Boris go and it looks like I made a deal with the Mob and if I'm hard on him, it will look like I don't want Kostoff's killer to be caught," Zhukov shook his head.

"Then we make this easy. I promised to aid in any way that I could. I will make a deal with Kuznetsov," Mwende said.

"Not sure that would fly," Lion-O objected.

"I would agree. You making a deal with Kuznetsov might look like you're in the Mob's pocket. That would be bad for business," Mandora shook her head.

"Then I have a solution that will help everyone," Cheetara spoke up.

"Do enlighten us, your Highness," Alexei smiled.

"Well Lion-O can make a deal with Boris and then Mandora can assist. As King of New Thundera and Third Earth, he technically holds power over all who live on both planets. As of a few days ago, that would include the population of Mars," the cheetah clarified.

"I see why you chose her Lion-O. The woman is wise beyond her years," Zhukov smiled.

"It certainly wasn't the only reason," he winked at Cheetara.

"You're ok with doing this Lion-O?" Mwende asked.

"It would only serve to endear me to our guests. Since no one outside of the ThunderCats understands Boris' occupation, then I think we'll be in the clear. Even if they do understand, they know that it is not a deal I would make lightly. However, a foreign leader was killed on our soil and a such I must show not only New Thundera and Third Earth, I will not stand for such things, I must also show the galaxy," the lion explained.

"Do you always think of what the galaxy thinks?" Alexei asked.

"We must. We live in it, do business in it, and fight our enemies in it. We cannot consider anything without the ripple effects," Lion-O said.

"Another who is wise beyond his years. My grandfather who served during Earth's World War Two would be very pleased," Zhukov smiled again.

"You'll have to tell me all about him someday," the lion smiled.

"He passed long, long ago but as we Russians do not forget our past. It is what makes us now in the present," the Russian President said.

"Then perhaps you'd like to rebut Rodchenko's earlier comment about you having a spine of a wet stroganoff noodle?" Mandora smirked.

"Oh I would very much like to," Zhukov smirked.

"Consider it done. Mandora, can you round up our evidence and our killer so that we may handle things?" Lion-O asked.

"Oh I think I can manage that," she smirked. With that she stood from her seta and quickly excused herself. There was work to be done.

"Now what about the election? We were supposed to have one," Alexei pointed out.

"I will make a decree that given the unusual circumstances, I will remain in office until the opposing party is able to find another candidate and run an actual campaign," Zhukov explained.

"That is awful generous of you," Cheetara said.

"Well I must prove that I am willing to compromise. Should they be unable to mount a campaign of their own, I will retain office and select a Vice President," he said.

"Sounds good. We will deal with Council matters once everything has settled down," Mwende told him.


	26. Chapter 26

Lion-O made the announcement around dinner time to the entire planet that the man responsible for the death of President Kostoff had been captured and that as leader of New Thundera and Third Earth, he would see justice done. The Evil Chasers would be offloading the suspect to their trial site and the judicial system would go from there. Then President Zhukov took over the press conference and explained the situation to his fellow Russians and to all of those associated with the Martian home world. Though he never said the man's name it was inferred that the presidential candidate opposing him was no longer part of the race. Needless to say, the people seemed ok for now with Zhukov's suggestion but everyone knew that only time would tell just how ok the people were.

Two days later, the Council made up of the Martian countries and the Thunderian Council met up to discuss the coming year and how things would proceed. Mars had in fact turned out to remain stable while everyone had been off of it. No signals had been sent from the remote stations indicating that the planet had shifted in the slightest. Everyone agreed that the Asian biospheres would need to be relocated as no one had come up with a good solution to plug the holes caused by the earthquake machines. The bigger issue came down to whether or not to wait until all the housing that was required was finished before sending crews back to Mars to begin work.

"I think it best we finish the temporary housing. The winters of Third Earth and New Thundera can be harsh and construction will have to stop. During the winter months, crews could be sent over to Mars to help build new biospheres. The next elephant in the room is the fact that we will not have enough food for everyone unless we start planting crops in the spring. No matter what happens with construction it was estimated that it would take a year for the new biospheres to be finished," Lion-O pointed out.

"The best course of action would probably be to transfer the unaffected biospheres people back to Mars," one of the Council members said.

"I don't think that is a wise idea. We don't know if once construction on the new biospheres starts if Mars will turn unstable again. Let us make plans for choosing areas that can be cultivated. It will put people to work and it will allow for the extension of our food supply," Mwende suggested.

"Excellent. I'll get our Head of Agriculture onto it," Lion-O said.

"Could your manufactured food plants speed up production with an infusion of workers?" President Chang wanted to know.

"I'm sure they could. I'll call the heads of the companies and get their opinion on ramping up training and an influx of employees. Worst comes to worst, it would allow us to have rations ready," the King nodded.

"Excellent work today gentlemen and ladies. I think things are well on their way to being under control," Mwende spoke up. With that the meeting broke up and everyone went about what needed to be done.

Later, Lion-O received a call from Mandora. Seems that Rodchenko was not as tough to crack as they thought. She'd had him blubbering like a baby in no time once she confronted him with the evidence. His entire organization had crumbled and his attempts to start what undoubtedly would have been a war were gone. Looking at facing the death penalty, he agreed to life in prison on the Penal Planet. Lion-O promised to pass along the good news. Everything seemed to be fitting into place and he was glad for it.


	27. Epilogue

Panthro stared out the hangar window as the first snowflakes of the season trickled down from the heavens. He fidgeted with the small box in his pocket, hoping that his plans were going to work out.

"Cat got your tongue?" Ben-Gali teased as he approached the panther.

"Huh?" Panthro turned around.

"I've been talking to you for the last ten minutes and you have no idea what I just said do you," the tiger frowned.

"Sorry. I've been distracted," his friend admitted.

"Lord Panthro your assistance is required in the kitchen. Lord Panthro to the kitchen," an announcement over the Lair was made by Punthar.

"Snarf break the dishwasher again?" Li-en chuckled, knowing full well it had nothing to do with it.

"Probably put the wrong soap in again," Cavan smirked.

"I told him to better label those bottles," Ben-Gali joined in on the joke.

"You guys," Panthro shook his head and headed out of the room and down toward the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Lion-O was enjoying a break in the paperwork action with Leo who was now four and interested in what his daddy did all day. The lion figured the cub had no idea what it meant to be King yet but he'd have time to teach him. He heard the announcement and gave a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Leo asked.

"You are," Lion-O teased knowing that he couldn't really tell him what was going on. They'd finally had a moment of peace and the lion didn't want to jinx it by saying what was going on out loud. Panthro had come to him for permission, back before the business with Mars, since Lea's father was not available to ask and the lion had agreed. He knew that the panther certainly did not need to ask but he was touched that he respected the long time Thunderian tradition.

Now that the temporary housing for all of their Martian guests had been finished just in time and the food supply was set for the winter, they could move on the special event. Panthro was worried about the special dessert but the processed food plants continued to churn out the usual goodies like cakes and snacks but they were also making rations should it need to go that far. As a bonus, the message about the Martian troubles had spread across the galaxy and food was being delivered from other planets along with able bodies for construction of the new biospheres. Right now things looked to be ahead of schedule and the lion could not be more pleased.

"What are you guys trying to pull?" Lea asked Cheetara and Pumyra who had dragged her down to the kitchen where supposedly Panthro was in need of her assistance. According to Cheetara the dishwasher was indeed broken again but much worse than originally thought.

"Nothing. Panthro needs your help," Pumyra insisted.

"While I'm wearing my new dress? I just need five minutes to change," Lea protested. The girls had taken the afternoon off to relax and to secretly get the lioness ready.

"Sure. You just tell him what to do. You're good at that," Cheetara chuckled. Lea couldn't help but laugh at that as the private dining room doors opened and the cheetah and the puma practically threw her in there.

"Have fun," they said and then the lioness could hear the door lock after it closed. She was about to yell at them through the door when she heard a voice behind her.

"You look stunning," turning around she found that it was Panthro and he was most certainly not dressed for fixing a dishwasher. He had on a suit that she'd only seen him wear once before when they had the formal dinner for all the Martian dignitaries a few months back.

"Thank you," she actually blushed, something that the lioness rarely did. Her blue dress was down to her knees and had spaghetti straps. The girls convinced her to put it on claiming that she might be able to wear it to another dignitary function.

"Shall we?" He offered her his arm and she took it. He led her to a nearby table which had obviously been setup for a private dinner for two.

"Wine?" The panther asked.

"No thank you," she told him. He immediately grew concerned but did not say anything as Snarf brought out the first course with the help of Pali who was looking dapper in a suit as well.

"My Chef in training has assisted me this evening," Snarf winked at him.

"Well thank you very much. This is all very overwhelming," Lea admitted. The two Cats enjoyed their food and each other's company before Panthro nervously cleared his throat.

"Lea, I have something…"

"Pan, I…"

"You first," she conceded.

"What is it? I can tell something is wrong," he said.

"Nothing's wrong I just… I have something to say and I don't know how to say it," she admitted.

"Well I have something to say too so why don't we just say it together and then maybe we won't be so nervous?" He asked. She nodded seeing as she had no better idea herself.

"Will you marry me?"

"I'm pregnant," the words tumbled out and they both stared at each other.

"You want to…"

"You're…" before Lea knew what was happening, Panthro had his arms around her and scooped her out of her chair. His lips found hers and she readily replied to his actions.

"That is fantastic!" The panther was all smiles when they parted, forgetting his own question.

"It is?" Lea sounded unsure as he set her down.

"Of course it is. You have to know how much I love you Lea. This doesn't change any of that. You'll make a great mom," he was still smiling and pulled her into a hug.

"I will?" Now she knew the panther was off his gourd.

"Of course you will. I've seen you with Sahara and Leo. You are most definitely their favorite aunt," Panthro chuckled as he pulled back.

"I'm their only aunt," she pointed out.

"Play that game all you want but we both know it isn't true," he said. The lioness was about to retort when Snarf and Pali brought out the dessert. They were surprised to see their dinner guests out of their chairs but the brought over the slices of chocolate cake. On top of one of them was something that was most definitely not edible. Her eyes went wide at the diamond that sat on top. It was a tasteful size and fit into a gold band that twisted its way around some silver and up to the stone.

"Lea, would you…" he didn't get to finish.

"Yes," she said. Again they were out of their seats, finding each other's lips. Snarf and Pali looked on from the kitchen door which they opened a crack. The Mutant was all smiles and Snarf used his tail to wipe his eyes before he went to call Lion-O.

 **T** **H** **E**   **E** **N** **D**


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